Guitarist REACTS to The Last Great American Dynasty by TAYLOR SWIFT

[@Mary-ks2kc]

Yes that is Jack Antonoff, he and Taylor have been close friends and collaborators since 2013. She’s actually the first artist he produced for. He said no one trusted him to produce until everyone saw she did, then the door was wide open. It’s wild to think if they hadn’t met and become friends we might not have one of the most important producers and some of the biggest albums of the last decade!

[@anabergespolo8631]

Crazy to think how eveyone told him "He didn't have it" and to stick to playing instruments and then the first album he produced went on to win AOTY and become the most awarded pop album in HISTORY (sorry but do you know how many great pop albums there are out there?? For 1989 to have that title it's really something). Now Jack has been nominated several times for Grammys as producer and is a very hot commodity as producer, even though he hasn't really had time to produce for a lot more people than Taylor and Lana, especially with Taylor making him produce 5 albums in 5 years lol We as a fandom have a joke about Taylor needing to let Jack out of the cage in her basement, poor guy produced three albums in the span of a year and a half for her she really needs to learn how to share him xd

[@meglea7065]

@@anabergespolo8631 Lorde, Clairo

[@wgrodrig5651]

Rebekah was demonized for being a free spirit and was blamed for the “dynasty” to crumble. Taylor bought the house decades after and she was demonized for having parties and being the “loudest woman this town has ever seen”. It’s so interesting to watch the long pond because she explains her mindset when writing each song. Thank you for sharing your experience of discovering this piece of art with us.

[@mia9833]

I also see the comparison with society.. "the last great american dynasty" meaning how they say it was greater before, when women werent liberated, loud, and shameless. So they are bitchn about how there goes the last great american dynasty where women were "in their place". Not out of control. Because it tells the story of people demonizing her and another woman who had similar character - being free

[@GeehSavinon]

Hi Andrew! This song is about Rebekah Harkness, the founder of Harkness ballet, one of the biggest ballet schools in the world. She was Salvador Dali's best friend. She became a "new money" when she married the heir of a big oil company. Taylor 50 years later bought the house she lived in Rhode Island. I love this song (it's my favorite from the album) because of the way she compares herself to Rebekah: two women who got rich and famous but were treated like shit for the "high society" and called "crazy", "shameless" and "too loud"

[@robertthompson7242]

She was the granddaughter of a bank president, daughter of successful business owner; in St. Louis, she _was_ old money. (In that, she was like Taylor). Just not as rich as Harkness or his partner, John Rockefeller. Her ballet company folded in 1975; you may have confused it with Joffrey Ballet company, which she supported for a time. Joffrey moved to Chicago. Also, you might read up on Harkness' life---she went to parties with college friends, stripped, and put mineral oil in the punch (as early as 1932). Not much like Taylor in that regard; but it is obvious that Taylor has thought about the parallels. Harkness was a genuine nutcase though; she married again after Bill, twice.

[@diyasengupta9909]

i really love how taylor changed the line from "dyed his cat key lime green" to a dog in the bridge. it perfectly encapsulates how folklore can get subverted over the years, since it's delivered through word of mouth, and how miniscule details can become skewed. this small anecdotal change captures the wider theme of the album so well!

[@robertthompson7242]

changed the line? that is the way she wrote it in the first place. Harkness dyed a cat, but Taylor _likes_ cats. So she changed it. Just like Love Story ended in a wedding, unlike the original tragedy. It is super unlikely that anyone outside the neighborhood would have remembered about an incident from 50 years ago, if Harkness hadn't been reported on in the society gossip of the day.

[@diyasengupta9909]

Robert Thompson i phrased this in a confusing way, sorry! i meant she changed the object of the line from the actual source material, i.e. she focused on a dog being dyed key lime green, rather than a cat, which rebekah actually did. it’s my interpretation that taylor did this to match the wider theme of folklore and by extension, the whole album holistically. but it’s also possible that she just did it because she likes cats- just depends how you want to see the line :)

[@robertthompson7242]

@@diyasengupta9909 She's just a cat person, lol. What is kind of scary, is what did Rebekah use for dye? Most of them (even food dyes) are dangerous to pets.

[@lanalana4613]

@@robertthompson7242 it's literally not because she's a cat person 😭 if she used "cat" it would not go well with the line "Fifty years is a LONG time." it's just the phonetics oml

[@robertthompson7242]

@@lanalana4613 She rhymes every other long line: sea, green, beach, me. Dog or cat doesn't make any difference --- although, I do admire assonance.

[@robertthompson7242]

One of Taylor's regular themes is malicious gossip (she has been on the receiving end a lot). In her songs, look for "They said" or "That's what people say" or something similar. I think the only album that didn't touch on this was her first (which had some songs about being unwanted or unappreciated, written in middle school and junior hs). They say I did something bad -- They say she's gone too far this time-- Ain't it funny rumors fly-- You, with your words like knives//And swords and weapons that you use against me + + + +

[@zia0576]

Wow, that's a nice insight I didn't really notice that but you're so right :)

[@15_is_a_girl]

There are soo many swifties who don't realise that in 'I did something bad' Taylor isn't actually accepting she did something bad, but she's saying "THEY SAY" I did something bad, and it felt so good.

[@jeomaykutecson3545]

I have always loved this kind of writing from Taylor because it gives her songs more dimension by mentioning how other people view the main character or characters.

[@15_is_a_girl]

@@jeomaykutecson3545 agreed!

[@robertthompson7242]

@@15_is_a_girl I have always thought there was a lot of the "Blank Space Taylor" in the songs on Reputation. The entire album is mostly a set of love songs to Joe.

[@lkcullen1918]

Your description of what "maybe happened" when Taylor Swift moved to RI is so *accurate* lol She was getting flack long before she even had her famous 4th of July parties. Seriously, I once went freediving near the beach her house is on and when I checked the local forums for some tips on navigating the area, the older locals were STILL shitting on her. *Even ON THE LOCAL SCUBA DIVING FORUMS* they have their 'hate trains'. It's so odd. Things seemed to have settled down a bit though.

[@elizabethjulia20]

ok I know I've commented this before, but you really should watch her actual longpond session on disney+, rather than the unofficial clips from this youtube channel because I love hearing your thoughts on her live performances with her preambles and lyric talks! BUT feel like commenting this every video will get annoying so I'm going to stop haha. Love hearing your folklore thoughts, it's one of my favourite albums and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[@sarabothe8729]

I agree! The song introductions are the best part!

[@Shan72393]

I doubt he has / will get Disney+

[@Lochness19]

Taylor Swift was controversial for temporarily closing a beach access at Holiday House. Her representatives said did it to fix a seawall that fell into disrepair but the neighbours were more focused on the temporary closure. She also held her famed July 4th parties there. The house has attracted many fans, stalkers and paparazzi over the years. That includes one stalker that broke into her house, another that robbed a bank and threw the money over the fence in an attempt to woo her (no one claimed her stalkers had much sanity) and another car that crashed into her gate. I'm not sure if the house was really that empty until she moved in, but I can imagine it would've been quieter.

[@jeomaykutecson3545]

What I love about the song is that she managed to put her feminist and American iconography in one song. She's been writing about American symbolism and feminism in her past albums before folklore and she finally was able to stick the landing this time by combining the two.

[@Shan72393]

The lyric flip at the end, change of perspective is very common is Taylor’s writing! You’ll see ☺️ But yes that’s Jack and Aaron!

[@vespastik]

We really need to support this dude! He supports artists! He tells his viewers to watch the original content first so the artists can get their views and dues ❤️❤️❤️

[@ivy5919]

I can't wait for you to hear My Tears Ricochet (which is about her stolen music), Mirrorball, Seven, This is me trying... actually I can't wait for you to hear the other songs from Folklore 🙂

[@fantastischfish]

Yes!!! Absolutely Springsteen vibes! I love him and so does she. She references him in the song London Boy from her album Lover.

[@robertthompson7242]

and, Springsteen's collab with her buddy Jack was pretty good, too! Antonoff has admitted his license was lapsed when they did the video, lol

[@Anna13Tonks]

"Those young whippersnappers with your guitar music" 😂😂😂

[@Leylahsong]

Greetings from the Caribbean. I loved you singing The Only Living Boy In New York. (It's one of my faves) New subbie.

[@AndrewFriedberg]

Thank you :)

[@brynanderson375]

I love watching these because you don't know anything about her and are going in blind! As opposed to us Swifties who know everything we can about her lol

[@brynanderson375]

Also, Taylor used to have her infamous 4th of July parties at the Holiday House!

[@Eric_The_Eccentric]

I just wanna know what has changed about your thoughts on Taylor after the album review is done. Would love to hear it.

[@morghann21313]

So happy to continue watching your journey

[@hamnaabro5410]

the change from cat to dog is actually intentional! it's to show how when we tell stories (literal FOLK lore) little details get changed and altered over time- like from green to blue, from morning to night - from cat to dog. :)

[@STAYSWIFTIESCIRCUS]

*LOVED YOUR REACTION AS ALWAYS ANDREW*

[@hanax1860]

Thank you! Your video makes my day🙌

[@FlyingPandaSquare]

when you redact your long rambles XD great reaction! I didn't know too much about Rebekah either when I first heard the song, tho i did know about the rhode island house so i was less surprised than you haha and the "and then it was bought by me" part gave me wee little chills, feels like you can HEAR her smile XD ❤️

[@alisong826]

0:56 ❤

[@almajohansen6356]

MORE TAYLOR!!!!

[@LornaGreene]

So excited for this! Thank you for continuing with Taylor content

[@anabergespolo8631]

I would greatly, GREATLY encourage you to watch the explanation attached to each song, they are super interesting. The explanations for "My tears ricochet", "Mirrorball", "This is me trying" and "Peace" especially, although all the explanations are great. Please if you have Disney + watch it with them and if not we can probably find you a link to the song with the explanations

[@robertthompson7242]

Harkness was the daughter of a rich businessman, with ties to banking and finance (rich, attended private schools). She became something of a wild child. Wikipedia says: " After graduating in 1932, she and a group of female friends formed the Bitch Pack, a sub-culture of local debutantes who enjoyed subverting society events, including lacing punchbowls with mineral oil and performing stripteases on banquet tables." fwiw, mineral oil is a remedy for constipation; she gave the people in her upper-social-class parties the shits, and distracted them by stripping. A debutante is a young girl introduced to Society in order to find a husband (bc I doubt you read Regency romances). Unfortunately, Wikipedia doesn't list the other members of the Bitch Pack. She was married to Harkness for 7 years, he didn't die right away. Their neighbors in Watch Hill Rhode Island hated her, and considered her vulgar. After being widowed, she remarried twice more, but those didn't work out. Sadly, her behavior may have had a genetic cause: her children were all mentally unstable. She subsidized ballet, danced, composed music, and bankrolled medical research.

[@sojansetly6810]

My favorite off of folklore!💘

[@ivy5919]

Great video, I can't wait to see your next TS video!

[@MsSera21]

Yes! Rebekah Harkness used to live In Taylor’s house

[@alext9215]

Steve Wilson covered this song. I manifesting that he produces her next album.

[@lunabeatriz714]

i see you’ve made your research!

[@bornfromstardust1526]

Can't wait for exile...

[@bost9102]

You should watch whole folklore the long pond studio session it's just more than concerts

[@iss.aditya]

Yay 🤩

[@CommandoMaster]

Probably her best song on Folklore since I'm not a fan of slow songs.

[@stevenkim7978]

Please react to Roll the Bones by Shakey Graves Audiotree version!

[@blogistuff4383]

Yeah she's a light lyric soprano with a strange comfort in the depths of her vocal range. But she still has the lyric soprano properties to her voice. But who knows, she might end up being a mezzo soprano when she reaches her vocal prime in her mid 30s.

[@limitlessends]

0:23 I like your humor

[@limitlessends]

0:52 I like your singing.

[@limitlessends]

1:43 oh hey, boi found some hussle

[@limitlessends]

4:10 I enjoy that you put parts in saying you've "redacted it" but maybe let yourself have a non-redacted one some time. Up to you if it should be serious or funny, but I think announcing an exclusive rant would be hilarious!

[@limitlessends]

5:15 omg, we're old!

[@limitlessends]

7:00 love you playing

[@luizachagas9398]

this album and evermore tell a lot of other peoples stories that you kinda have to know who's about to understand the lyrics... i think if you look up the lyrics on genius it'll give you a better idea!

[@meglea7065]

THE FACT U DIDNT UNDERSTAND THIS IS A STORY. A TRUE STORY. ABOUT HER HOUSE AND THE FORMER MAD WOMAN WHO OWNED IT PRIOR. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@demonhoopa]

Swiftys can correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe Folklore and Evermore are autobiographical. She must be tired of people using her openness as ammunition to judge her.

[@melaniem948]

King, you might wanna try lyric genius rather than doing your own interpretation, it might make it easier for you

[@rrodz3664]

But it’s hilarious 😂

[@joshuaramon123]

That's not fun, because then it's not reacting anymore with their own interpretations...

[@MsSera21]

Ach, different interpretations are good and fun imo

[@Anna13Tonks]

I think he enjoys it tho

[@melaniem948]

@@joshuaramon123 I normally would agree but he’s talking about Taylor like she’s the one experiencing this when we know it’s just storytelling it’s mainly for that